HP creates PC channel programme for schools

HP and Westcoast have teamed up to offer an education-focused channel programme to help partners create a customised-to-order (CTO) service, addressing the specific needs of SMBs operating in the education sector.

It will offer organisations better flexibility with solutions that have been tailored to their specific needs, including PCs, and in future, the partnership will also offer laptops too. All deliveries will be made within 48 hours too, which HP claimed isn't possible for any vendor in the market at the moment.

Westcoast will develop a network of distributors to sell in the packages to end users in the education sector, including schools, colleges and universities, presenting an opportunity worth £35 million for the company and its partners.

“Schools, colleges and universities have wide and varied computing needs,” said Neil Sawyer, channel director of HP UKI. “The CTO initiative empowers these institutions and their users to request specific computing requirements at a speed and scale not previously possible, rather than limiting them to a ‘one-size fits all’ proposition.”

In the coming months, Westcoast and HP may roll out the programme to other industry verticals, although neither company has revealed which sectors would be its targets. Despite budget cuts in the sector, education is its priority owing to its demands for new technologies to aid learning.

‘’We are immensely proud to have partnered with HP on this project," Owen Hutchinson, HP value business manager of Westcoast, said. "We could not think of a worthier initiative than delivering trusted HP products, custom built to advance the educational experience for both educator and learner alike.”